Heron Lake RV Park

This campground changed ownership in 2007, and is now the KOA/Lakeside campground and RV Resort.
Unfortunately, the current senior owner has a violent temper and can be threatening and verbally abusive to women. WOMEN SHOULD NOT ENTER CAMPGROUND OFFICE IF SENIOR OWNER IS PRESENT.

Received from Ray for visit in Aug 2013

Site Number:32Stay Again? NO

I just went to Heron Lake RV park for first time.
It was a nice, I thought. Its true its now a KOA, but still seemed to get by the name "Heron Lake RV" in all respects.
One of the two hot tubs wasn't working completely, but a lady I talke with in the hot tub said that the previous owner had run out of money and had not been in a position to do any maintenance that required money or purchases. She said that things had been improving a lot under the KOA management.
While we were there, they had a fishing derby and it was a lot of fun. They have a nice dirt and gravel path around the lake with exercise stations. The fishing was decent and we caught several nice sized Bass. It was all catch a release. You didn't need a Colorado Fishing licence, so that allowed me to fish for a change (I didn't have a license this year).
The people were uniformly friendly and courteous. We enjoyed some paddle boating with two other families we were camping with. It was $4 for 30 minutes, with is all you handle, unless your name is Lance Armstrong.
The swimming pool was on the small side, but water was perfect and all the kids and adults were having a blast. Both hot tubs were hot, but only one had working jets, no biggie.
The very unique play area for the kids is really spectacular and one of the best ameneties at Heron Lake. Its filled with truly unique play stuff, old school in many cases, but stuff your kids will enjoy and not see at other places. Giant tractor tires used in many different and creative ways, every thing trex decked, one of the biggest play areas I've seen anywhere -- more like a full sized obstacle course. Lots to do there.
The kids all enjoyed riding their bikes around the park and doing loops around the lake. Its somewhat rought riding, but even a 4 and 5 year old managed to ride around with their training wheels just fine.
They had about 4 horse shoe pits and a really huge pavillion for large groups to gather at.
THere are maybe 4-6 spots on the lake which are more money, but much more spacious and scenic, being on the lake.
The bugs were somewhat thick, for Colorado, so bring plenty of Bug repellent. I wouldn't call it bad at all by midwest standards, but for Colorado, its always a little worse near water.
The hookups were great, the cable TV only had like 10 channels, but it was a nice variety of local stations and some more popular cable choices.
Water pressure was great, drains good (but some a little far, 20' barely reached for me). Every site has its own light and even and extra outdoor outlet. Each site was grassy and the grass was green and soft under foot.
The woman I talked to in the hot tub said that the new owners had been working hard getting the sprinklers working again ... and it showed (looked good now).
We went to the Ice Cream social at 3pm on Saturday and it was very nice. They have a large covered patio (shaded) and 4-5 types of ice cream and lots of toppings to indulge yourself with. Again, staff so friendly and people we met generally were friendly also. Lots of BIG rigs ... this was the first time I actually thought the 5-ers kind of looked small in a park. Lots of class A's and nice ones at that. Some even watching plasma outdoors.
Was very quiet at night and not a lot of partying going on at all. I nice place for a morning or evening walk around the park and/or lake. Bring your fishing pole and bikes.
The road in is nicely paved ... then you get to the gate with is a little tight and rough, then it becomes dirt roads in the park. This is the sight of an old gravel pit quarry, so lots of gravel abounds.
We didn't leave the park, but since I used to live in Fort Collins years ago, this location is close to to Horsetooth resevoir, the Poudre River and town amenities are only 10-15 minutes away. We saw a lot of rafting outfits on the way out -- so white water rafting is a popular local activity if you want to try it.
I actually got the impression that yes, its been run down a bit lately, but under the new management, it appears Heron Lake is on its way back to being a premier RV park.
I think the pool could/should be bigger ... but overall, it was what we expected ... and was a nice place to stay.